Students writing is worse today with all these new technologies
False: http://ssw.stanford.edu/ study is showing that students' writing is improving over the years, and other studies show blogs and wikis and the like have a positive impact on student writing skills.
Before students do an activity, they need a lecture explaining the concepts/principles involved
False, Of course students need to know what they are doing and why they are doing it, but it's better to lecture about the concepts after an activity such as an exploration, simulation, lab, etc. It's okay if the complexity of the situation causes a bit of stumbling or confusion. They will be more ready to understand the lecture afterward, instead of just tuning it out if given beforehand.
Some refs:
Brant, G., Hooper, E., & Sugrue, B. (1991). Which comes first: The simulation or the lecture? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 7(4), 469-481.
Which Comes First: Computer Simulation of Dissection or a Traditional Laboratory
Practical Method of Dissection
Multimedia: Video and animations are better than static diagrams
False - on average actually, diagrams hold a slight advantage over animations. Animations & videos might go too fast for a student, or too slow (boring). A diagram you can take your time to study it and move back and forth between the steps or components.
But actually this is a trick question. There is another alternative that is better than either animations/video or diagrams: user-controllable diagrams (or simulations). If you let students control and interact with an animation or animated simulation, the learning gains are even greater. See Richard Lowe's work:
Today's students are 'wired' differently than older generations. They are digital natives, and we old fogies are digital immigrants.
False - There isn't really research or evidence for this. Actually there are greater differences within generations than between them (such as the digital divide, etc.)
Various misconceptions I've heard about Constructivism:
Constructivism works better the less guidance you provide (hands-off, no lecture at all, etc.)
There are appropriate and needed times and situations to provide structure and also to lecture. See the 'time for telling' article above, for example, and work by Ton de Jong and many others.
Constructivism & problem-based learning, etc. is a failure
Constructivism is only appropriate for older students
Constructivism is only appropriate for younger students (yes, I've heard both)
The more software costs, the better the quality
False - You can't really judge the quality of software or technology by the cost alone, there are so many factors involved.
You need to provide training and so forth, and support teachers and students, otherwise technology might have a negative effect or only a short-term 'wow' effect until the newness wears off.
Practical Method of Dissection
Some other miscellaneous related items: